12 Oct 2010 / 02:16
After taking a year-long break, Apartman is back in business this season, but regardless of a rumoured change in ownership, very little seems to have changed.
David Galic
The club was, of course, known as being one of the first ‘alternative’ clubs that the gay community of Belgrade frequented openly. The change in ownership has not changed this fact, and a large portion of the club-goers on Saturday night were frrom the LGBT community, although Apartman has always been straight-friendly, and no one will look at you askance if you chose to visit with a partner who happens to be of the opposite sex or if you outwardly demonstrate your straightness in some other way.
The club has never really advertised itself as a gay club, either in the past or currently, but it has been one of those unspoken things that every Belgrade club-hound knows, and rare is the occasion that someone wanders into the club not knowing what to expect.
A good reason for never openly advertising its open-door policy for the gay community is the situation in Serbia itself, characterised by pronounced homophobia and the willingness to create incidents and stir up violence from certain members of right-wing, nationalist and extremist communities who work diligently throughout Serbia to keep the LGBT population living in fear.
However, Apartman functions successfully as a safe haven for the gay community in Belgrade, a place to mingle with similarly inclined people and a place to let go and party without worrying about awkward stares and hateful comments being launched their way.
The atmosphere during this opening weekend was much as I remembered it earlier. The club definitely has the essence of a singles bar, and there is a lot of hooking up and general ‘togetherness’ for lack of a better way to describe it, going on in the club, but for an average, well-adjusted individual living in the 21st century, it’s an appropriate atmosphere, hardly in-your-face or vulgar.
The club was full, but not overcrowded and I was able to circulate around the various rooms, throughout which there was a positive vibe.
Apartman consists of several quite spacious rooms, obviously taking its name from the fact that it is located in an old, enormous apartment with high ceilings and tons of room. The first room at the entrance is always full, since the bar is there and this is where people will either stop to talk to someone they bumped into upon entering the club, or just stop to scope out the atmosphere.
There is one larger room that serves as the main dancing area and houses the DJ, and several other rooms with comfy chairs, tables and a waiting staff who will take your drinks order so you don’t have to go to the bar. The view from the club is also a fantastic one, since it is located in a building overlooking the Brankov Bridge and the river.
The drinks are about as inexpensive as you’ll find in an upper echelon club in Belgrade with a small beer setting you back around €2.
The music theme has yet to settle into any obvious style, nor are there any resident DJs, but it is electronic in any case, ranging this weekend from house to dubstep and everything in between.
Apartman is a place for people who honestly enjoy clubbing to go. Here they are free to dance and mingle without worrying about who is looking at who. It is rare to find a club in Belgrade that is this relaxed and carefree. Apartman is clearly one of the few gay-friendly clubs in town, but is just as clearly a club where everyone who wants to party is welcome.
From what I have heard, most other clubs and bars in Belgrade that are geared towards the gay community are very closed off, exclusive and fairly secretive, which also usually means that the DJs spinning there and the general musical programme are often not up to snuff.
The heavy police presence in front of the club, shows that even if there’s a lot of unreconstructed folk out there, at least the city administration must have finally realised that a modern capital such as Belgrade needs clubs like this and must take actions to ensure the safety of the patrons if Belgrade is to remain vital and relevant as a European city.
Apartman is an effort to bring the alternative, at least for Serbia, somewhat into the mainstream, and to provide a place where people of all types can come together to party, checking all discrimination and prejudices at the door.
The club was, of course, known as being one of the first ‘alternative’ clubs that the gay community of Belgrade frequented openly. The change in ownership has not changed this fact, and a large portion of the club-goers on Saturday night were frrom the LGBT community, although Apartman has always been straight-friendly, and no one will look at you askance if you chose to visit with a partner who happens to be of the opposite sex or if you outwardly demonstrate your straightness in some other way.
The club has never really advertised itself as a gay club, either in the past or currently, but it has been one of those unspoken things that every Belgrade club-hound knows, and rare is the occasion that someone wanders into the club not knowing what to expect.
A good reason for never openly advertising its open-door policy for the gay community is the situation in Serbia itself, characterised by pronounced homophobia and the willingness to create incidents and stir up violence from certain members of right-wing, nationalist and extremist communities who work diligently throughout Serbia to keep the LGBT population living in fear.
However, Apartman functions successfully as a safe haven for the gay community in Belgrade, a place to mingle with similarly inclined people and a place to let go and party without worrying about awkward stares and hateful comments being launched their way.
The atmosphere during this opening weekend was much as I remembered it earlier. The club definitely has the essence of a singles bar, and there is a lot of hooking up and general ‘togetherness’ for lack of a better way to describe it, going on in the club, but for an average, well-adjusted individual living in the 21st century, it’s an appropriate atmosphere, hardly in-your-face or vulgar.
The club was full, but not overcrowded and I was able to circulate around the various rooms, throughout which there was a positive vibe.
Apartman consists of several quite spacious rooms, obviously taking its name from the fact that it is located in an old, enormous apartment with high ceilings and tons of room. The first room at the entrance is always full, since the bar is there and this is where people will either stop to talk to someone they bumped into upon entering the club, or just stop to scope out the atmosphere.
There is one larger room that serves as the main dancing area and houses the DJ, and several other rooms with comfy chairs, tables and a waiting staff who will take your drinks order so you don’t have to go to the bar. The view from the club is also a fantastic one, since it is located in a building overlooking the Brankov Bridge and the river.
The drinks are about as inexpensive as you’ll find in an upper echelon club in Belgrade with a small beer setting you back around €2.
The music theme has yet to settle into any obvious style, nor are there any resident DJs, but it is electronic in any case, ranging this weekend from house to dubstep and everything in between.
Apartman is a place for people who honestly enjoy clubbing to go. Here they are free to dance and mingle without worrying about who is looking at who. It is rare to find a club in Belgrade that is this relaxed and carefree. Apartman is clearly one of the few gay-friendly clubs in town, but is just as clearly a club where everyone who wants to party is welcome.
From what I have heard, most other clubs and bars in Belgrade that are geared towards the gay community are very closed off, exclusive and fairly secretive, which also usually means that the DJs spinning there and the general musical programme are often not up to snuff.
The heavy police presence in front of the club, shows that even if there’s a lot of unreconstructed folk out there, at least the city administration must have finally realised that a modern capital such as Belgrade needs clubs like this and must take actions to ensure the safety of the patrons if Belgrade is to remain vital and relevant as a European city.
Apartman is an effort to bring the alternative, at least for Serbia, somewhat into the mainstream, and to provide a place where people of all types can come together to party, checking all discrimination and prejudices at the door.
balkan insight
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου